Friends until the bitter end

Published: February 8, 2001 12:00AM

Sometimes tragedy sneaks up on you.

Like it did for three friends on Tuesday as they rode an all-terrain vehicle across the Lake Erie ice during a snowstorm that apparently obscured their vision enough they didn't see the hole that pulled them into the cold water below, and to their deaths.

Randy Riedmaier, a detective with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office, said warming temperatures in recent days caused the ice to begin breaking up. He said it was a hole several times the size of their vehicle into which the local fishermen drove their ATV, which was pulling a sled full of fishing gear.

While Riedmaier said Taylor, Puster and Shammo were experienced ice fishermen, he speculated they got caught out on the ice in a snowstorm that struck the area early Tuesday morning.

"It was a nice fine snow driven by a southwest wind and it reduced visibility to less than a tenth of a mile," Riedmaier said. "It's a good possibility that the falling snow masked the hole" in the ice, which otherwise would have appeared as a different color and texture, alerting the sportsmen. "Blowing snow tends to hide something like that."

Riedmaier said a resident from North Bass Island saw vehicle tracks leading into the hole in the ice about 2 p.m. and contacted 9-1-1. Rescuers traveling on an air boat reached the site within an hour. He said a diver from the Lakeside Fire Department was one of the first people on the scene, and the only diver that went into the water to do recovery operations.

"I was told," the detective said, "that you could look down into the (10 feet of) water and see the four-wheeler and their (fishing) equipment laying on the bottom." He said recovery operation took about 20 minutes, concluding at 3:57 p.m.

Riedmaier said the many layers of clothing worn by ice fishermen would have cause them to sink straight to the bottom once it got wet.

At the Taylor residence Wednesday, family members were shocked by the news of Howard Taylor's death. His son, Robert Taylor, said the three men were close friends and dedicated fishing enthusiasts who enjoyed getting together throughout the year to fish the waters of Lake Erie. He said the men had made a previous trip together this winter for ice fishing expeditions in the same area.

Taylor said the area the men were in was familiar to his father because the family has maintained a cabin on Middle Bass for years. His son said Howard Taylor and the other men, who had arrived at the lake the previous day, had probably been transporting supplies from the cabin to the shanty when they got into the snowstorm and "got off course and got onto thin ice."

He said members of the group actually lived at the cabin but commuted on the ATV to the shanty for fishing. He said the men had not been in contact with family members since their arrival at the lake.

In the past, Howard Taylor's fishing exploits, including his participation in various tournaments, had been featured in the sports section of The Daily Record, including a story in 1995 when he landed a 52-inch sturgeon that weighed 35 pounds.

Riedmaier said this time of year the frozen surface of Lake Erie around the islands is covered with ice-fishing shanties and vehicles. He said because of the exceptionally cold winter, which has led to thicker than usual ice, all kinds of vehicular traffic is moving between the mainland and the islands. In addition to privately owned cars, Riedmaier said trucks run delivery routes over the ice to the island.

"I even have pictures of dump trucks, fuel oil tankers, which weigh tons, and airplanes out on the ice," the detective said.

Riedmaier said the bodies of the fishermen were flown to the Port Clinton Airport and then transported by ground to the Lucas County Coroner's Office.

Autopsies were scheduled to be performed on the victims Wednesday, and Riedmaier said barring any unforeseen findings the case would be considered closed on the part of the sheriff's office.

Riedmaier, who was lead investigator for the floor collapse at the Lonz Winery on Middle Bass Island last year, said law enforcement agencies have been working for years to convince ice fishermen to wear life jackets for flotation, or even survival suits that would allow them to withstand icy water temperatures.